Know Thyself: 100 Guided Meditations on Humility of Heart

by Cajetan Maria da Bergamo

Humility is the key to all the virtues. It’s the necessary foundation for growth in all the others. If we do not know ourselves—if we cannot see our flaws and strengths (but especially our flaws)—clearly, how can we grow in virtue? How can we begin to make ourselves less and God more? Indeed, in our age of social media where it’s a constant race to appear the best, to put up a front, to show others a false image (and to show ourselves a false image) cultivating humility is perhaps more important now than ever. Know Thyself then is an invaluable resource for a prideful age. Adapted from Rev. Fr. Cajetan da Bergamo’s classic Humility of Heart and supplemented with writings from the saints and powerful scripture passages, Know Thyself will reinvigorate you each day in the struggle to be like Christ, to be “meek and humble of heart.” This beautiful hardcover book—with updated language for the contemporary reader and reorganized with a logical progression—is perfect for everyday use. New features that help you put your reading into spiritual action Saints quote for every day followed by a short meditation on humility. With Prayers for Humility and Scripture Verses on Humility Guided meditations that will bring about a deeper self-knowledge Are you having problems in a family relationship? Struggling to find fulfillment in your work? Do you find it difficult to have regular, deep prayer? Whatever your struggle, growing in true humility will help solve it. Spend the next 100 days with this book—spend the next 100 days contemplating, meditating upon, and growing in humility—and your problems, your struggles will improve. That’s the power of humility and that’s the power of Know Thyself.

Genres: Catholic, Religion, Nonfiction

202 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 6, 2019

About the author

Father Cajetan (Gaetano) Maria da Bergamo was an Italian Capuchin and author of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Reviews

[booklady · Rating 5 out of 5]

This says this is the Kindle edition;* however, I have a little hardback version which has gone everywhere with me for the last several months. I especially liked it in Adoration. The prayers in the back come from a plethora of sources, mostly of the saints: Sts. Ephrem, Thomas More, Augustine of Hippo, Ferdinan III of Castile, Charles Borromeo, Bernard of Clairvaux and Francis Borgia. There is an Act of Humility from the Ursuline Manual and prayers for patience from Sts. Alphonsus Liguori and Teresa of Avila. There is a prayer of St. Louis de Monfort to Our Lady for Humility, a prayer of St. Therese for Humility and the Humility of the Blessed Virgin, the Magnificat. There is a Humble Offering of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. There is a prayer to St. Philip Neri, prayers from the Roman Missal, Litanies and more! Yes! Special prayers from Sts. Francis and Thomas Aquinas + popes. It also includes all the Scripture quotes having to do with Humility.

At one point I thought the original text by Fr. Cajetan better than this book and it is, but this book is worth it for the wealth of prayers and resources at the back. The breakout of the daily meditations is extremely nice too. They force you to keep thinking about Humility, which is something we will never achieve, at least not knowingly. So, we would do well to be reminded on a regular basis of its (and our) nemesis, Pride and its pitfalls.

*When I get a chance, I need to add in the hardback copy.

[Audrey Monahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains manifold meditations on the virtue of humility. It also helped me understand how destructive and insidious pride can be in those seeking to grow in other virtues. Reading the quotes from Saints and reflections that followed made me much more cognizant of my outbursts of pride and disposed me to reflect on the root of my motivations. (Read this book at your own risk, it can be painful at times)

Page 175 gives the best explanations I’ve ever read on why pride is such a dangerous vice:
(1) pride destroys all other virtues, (2) pride can spring up from good, (3) rejoicing over our own humility is prideful, (4) pride is the first vice we learn and the last to leave us, (5) “God resists the proud”, (6) “Pride is the most manifest sign of the lost,” (7) pride can be hidden in many forms.

Although it was a bit repetitive, the contents of this book are invaluable… and admittedly, feeling as though I don’t need excessive reminders to exercise humility is likely prideful in and of itself.

Thanks Reeve for letting me borrow a copy!

[Stephen Carrier · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some good reflections on humility but I was hoping for more tangible examples to grow in humility, this book was not that. It was very contemplative. I was also quite distracted but how many typos there were. Almost every single page had 1-2. I’ve never seen a book so poorly edited and in the back of my mind I would get distracted and think to myself, if they didn’t take care to fix the typos how much care did that put in the book with some of the reflections that I was struggling to connect with?

[Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. The meditations start with a quote from a saint at the top of the page, and each one of them is beautiful. There are also prayers for humility at the end of the book - I wish I'd seen them sooner! Humility is something that everyone should take the time to meditate upon.

[Andy Lind · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 100 guided meditations are beautiful and because there are so many of them, it is possible to turn this book into a 3-month novena (which is what I did), but I do have to let you know that as you get closer and closer to the end, the meditations start to get shorter. It is almost as if the author was starting to run out of things to talk about. The prayers in the back of the book are decent and it does include The Litany of Humility, which is the best of the prayers. The passages from Scripture are a nice touch too. I feel almost bad giving this book a 3-star review but if the meditations would have been more equal in length, I would have given it a higher rating.